Paul McCartney still 'joyous'

By Hector Saldana :
May 16, 2013
: Updated: May 20, 2013 8:25am

Man on the run: Paul McCartney's tour stops in Austin on Wednesday and Thursday. He played Houston (above) in 2012.

Photo By Getty Images

OCTOBER 5: 50 Years Since The First Beatles Single Released: A Look Back At The Beatles The Beatles on stage at the London Palladium during a performance in front of 2, 000 screaming fans.

Photo By PRWeb

Photo By PRWeb

Is Sir Paul McCartney headed for the park? (Photo by Associated Press)

Photo By Keystone-France/Getty

UNITED KINGDOM - JANUARY 01: Paul Mccartney And His Wax Statue At Tussauds Museum At London In England During Sixties

McCartney: The Cute One was the coolest Beatle in 1968, after his partner went off the deep end. And while he almost lost it with silly love songs years later, he has always held a part of himself at a remove.

Possibly the most famous celebrity death hoax, pre-Internet days, was aimed at Paul McCartney. Theorists concluded that the cover photo of the Abbey Road album showed a funeral procession; Paul, the corpse, is barefoot and has his right foot extended instead of the left. (Apple/Capitol )

“That's true,” said Grossman, whose new “Places I Remember: My Time With the Beatles” is a limited-edition book of more than 1,000 Beatles photographs, most previously unpublished.

“Going through the book is like visiting old friends,” he said. “I love that.”

The relationship began in early 1964, when the Beatles appeared on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”

America was a much different place in February 1964 then it had been in May 1963. The country was still reeling from the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and military escalation in Vietnam felt inevitable.

“The death of John F. Kennedy, all the things that happened in succession in America, that cold winter in New York when things were really low,” Carter said. “The Beatles were a breath of fresh air. The reaction was unlike anything we'd ever seen. The visual was perfect and as important as the music.”

Grossman captured the moment, the look.

“I wasn't trying to pose them,” he said. “I was a photojournalist, and I was recording what was going on, who they were, who was around and what it might mean. I was looking for the revealing moment.”

That being said, he admits there was no way to know how historic those moments were “or what it would become.”

He was there when the Beatles filmed “Help!” and when the band wrote and recorded “Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.” He documented “Abbey Road.”

“I was not a fan of their music. Now, I am,” said Grossman, who was 27 when he met the group. He was a Broadway actor and had performed with the Metropolitan Opera.

“I was a fan of the Beatles. I didn't understand all the rock 'n' roll and the slang and the screaming ... but they knew a helluva lot about music,” he said.

“What I really appreciate is how unique each one individually is, in terms of wit, intelligence, charm, talent,” he said. “The amazing thing, to me, is that when the group got together, the group became even more unique and indispensible.”

He believes McCartney's motivation remains unchanged.

“I think the motor that was driving Paul, as I look through the book, was joy,” Grossman said. “He was having fun. Ringo saw the book last month in L.A. and said, 'Oh, my God. I never thought these pictures would last this long. It reminds me of how lively and how much fun we had.'”

'No one bigger'

Just how good is Paul McCartney? After all, the ex-Beatle turns 71 next month.

“I'm in awe of McCartney. He's about the only one that I am in awe of,” Dylan told Rolling Stone in 2007, praising his “effortless” abilities. “He can do it all and he's never let up, you know. He's got the gift for melody, he's got the rhythm. He can play any instrument. He can scream and shout as good as anybody and he can sing the ballad as good as anybody.”

“There are lots of performers with talent. McCartney has more, an intangible, multigenerational appeal that's been there since the beginning.

“Paul was always the one that led with a handshake,” said Carter, whose radio show has been going strong since 1983. “He was the guy you'd find backstage with the other bands talking. He was that kind of a guy. He plays the (star) role to a 'T.'

If you'd asked the other three Beatles ... in 1969 who would be the Beatle playing stadiums full of 50,000 people in 2013, they'd all say, 'Paul.' Paul likes playing music.

“The person playing in Texas named Paul McCartney is the most famous human being on the planet Earth. There is no one bigger than Paul McCartney.”

One of Montez's most vivid recollections from the 1963 tour offers another clue to the real man.

One night, Lennon poured beer on Montez's head as a joke while he slept on the tour bus. A fight erupted. It was McCartney who pulled them apart.

“He was always trying to make amends,” Montez said. “Paul was always gentle. He was real easygoing.”